Stenographic machine.



W. J. KEHOE. STENOGRAPHIO MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR.25, 1909.

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Patented Nov. 16

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Patented Nov. 16. 1909.

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W. J. KEHdE.

STENOGRAPHIG MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25. 1909.

a) 62% a g I 7242 Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

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W. J. KEHOE. STENOGRAPHIG MACHINE APPLICATION FILED 111111.25, 1909.

940,255. Patented Nov. 16. 1909'.

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W. J. KEHOE. STENOGRAPHIO MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR.25, 1909.

Patented NOV. 16, 1909.

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be operated ratrnr STENOGBAPHIC MACHINE.

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Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Nov. ilfi, F909.

Application filed march 25, 1908. Serial No. 485,719.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J. Knrron, a citizen of the United States, residing in Washington, District vented certain new and useful improvements in Stenographic Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to stenographic machines of the kind shown 1n Letters Patent of the United States No. 8 65,910 granted to me Sept. 10, 1907., and in my Patent No. 908,575, of Jan. 5, 1909, and the primary object of my invention is to so improve machines of this kind that they may noiselessly and with absolute precision, in the feed of thepaper and the printing of the characters. 1 have also improved the-details of construction of the machine in the manner hereinafter explained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a stenographic machine embodying my improvements, part of the paper reel being omitted. Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal central section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4. is a View on an enlarged scale showing particularly the ratchet and detent mechanism. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are detail views of the pawl forming part of the ratchet mechanism. Fig. Sshows a rear elevation or" the machine, a part of the paper reel being broken away. Fig. 9 is a detail view, showing particularly one of the paper guides employed. Fig. 10 is a plan view of the keys and some parts associated therewith, showing particularly the arrangement or" the bearing bars on which the keys rock and the relation of the bearings with the type and with those parts of the keys which engage the feed plate of the machine. Fig. 11 shows a transverse section on the line 11-1l of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 shows a vertical central section on the line 1212 of Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a perspective view of one of the key levers and the bearin bar to which it is attached. Fig. 14 is a detail view in section, and on an enlarged scale, showing how the bearing bar of each key lever is sup orted. Fig. 15 is a detail view in perspective showing one of the spacing blocks, which is interposed between each key lever and its bearing bar.

The base or bed plate comprises a back A and a front part A.

of Columbia, have in-- terial, as usual.

vment with either of the spur the center. or middle part being cut away. lhis bed plate may bemade of sheet metal flanged as shown at a to strengthen it, and it may be supported on feet a of soft ma- To the back part A of the base plate is secured a bracket B to opposite ends of which are attached the stud shafts c, carrying the spools C. of the ribbon Y; Each ribbon spool C is connected with a vertically-arranged spur-wheel C which is adapted to be driven by a train of gears carried by a lever D pivoted to the bracket B at b, mid-way between its opposite ends. The outermost spur-wheel d is in permanent mesh with an intermediate spur-wheel d which meshes with a pinion d on the feed shaft E which revolves about an axis in line with the axis of the pivot about which the lever D turns. This lever is formed with a downwardlyprojecting arm d which bears against a spring bar F resting at opposite ends on the stud shaft-s 0 and it has mid-way between its ends a depression d directly under the pivoted point of the lever D.

The arm 03 is adapted to butt against either of the stop pins d on opposite sides of the pivot b, the arrangement being such that when the lever is thrown over to either side to bring the spur-wheel d into engagewheels C the lever will be held by the spring F against one of the stops d while the spur-wheel d is held in engagement with the wheel C In this way while the gearing is properly efiected undue pressure or friction between the gears d and C is prevented and thus the ease with which the machine is operated is materially increased.

The lever l) with the gears d, al may be held in an inoperative position so as to disconnect the gears d, C by bringing the a'nm (Z into engagement with the depressed portion (i or" the bar F.

The paper ribbon X is drawn from a reel G by supported levers Gr pivoted to the bracket G2 mounted on the left-hand side of the machine and the paper passes through a guide loop g, carried by an arm g attached to a bracket 'g which also carries a spring plate it in the lower bifurcated end of the downwardly-projecting portion of which is mounted a feed roller H preferably mad of relatively soft material, such as rubber. The position of the guide 9' may be regulated by the adjusting devices g and the position of the f sted by means y the bracket 9 The paper feed roller H a spur-wheel b meshi ing wheel e of the sam E so that the shaft of at the same s which latter of the same like it prefer material such as rubb between the feed rollers over a guide 2' which dire plane of the inking ging or drop rs before pas he paper feed roller I is s1on roller or platen of the On the feed shaft E is m wheel J and a detent-wheel revolve with the roller I.

preferably of slightl .chet-wheel an g I: carried by a 0 a bracket K plate. This bracket is vices 71: at its base be adjusted to re dog is relativel position and the dog on the he set-screw K preventing. a ratchet-wheel and for turn movement of the The ratchet-wheel J is en L carried by the feed plate comprises a shank Z pivoted to a bracket m on the rear plate and engag the pawl in yi ratchet-wheel a with when desired and thrown over to the left. the shank Z is formed receive the tooth Z the shape shown (Fi erably made ofrel order that the nois operation of mach reduced to a mini I preferabl a kind which harder than s than ordinar noise is pre eed roller H may be adf the set-screw it carried is connected with ng with a corresponde size on the feed shaft the roller H is driven e feed shaft,

peed as that of th feed roller I carries a paper diameter as the roller H and e of a relatively soft The paper passes H and I and then cts the paper across ribbon and prevents ping down below the across the type. also the impresit from sag ounted a ratchet- K, both of which The detent-Wheel y larger diameter d is engaged by a spring arm Is atrising from the bed provided with deby means of which it may gulate the position of the y to the detent-wheel-and this also the pressur wheel K may The detent is f e exerted by gulated by or the purn overthrow of the also preventing a refeed shaft.

gaged by a pawl M and this pawl at its lower end part of the feed ed by a spring Z? which holds elding engagement with the f engagement therewhen the pawl is The upper end of with a socket Z to which is preferably of g. 6) and which is pref-' atively soft material in e usually incident to the ines of this class may be ratchet wheel an wear for a consid is so shaped that the tooth Z inserted or withdrawn, while operating. The of the tooth of the curve erable time.

eeaess shank while the sides of the tooth are firmly gripped by the sides of the socket. The

' tooth may be easily withdrawn when necessary and replaced by a new one.

The feed plate M is preferably of the form shown in plan in Fig. 1. It is preferably made of sheet metal flanged at its edges to stiffen it and is also formed with a middle concavo-convex portion m for a similar purpose. On opposite sides of its middle portion it is formed with arms or ears m which rest on posts m carrying pins m which extend through perforations in the ears. These posts constitute the fulcrums on which the feed plate rocks.

The front part of the feed plate is formed with two forwardly-extending diverging arms m to Which are attached plates m of hard rubber or other suitable material to receive the fingers of the operator when actuating the feed plate independently of any movement of the keys. At its rear end the feed plate is formed with a V-shaped part M which is so stamped as to provide a V- shaped rib w on its under side which is preferably covered with felt orother soft material w to deaden the noise when the keys are operated.

The rear end of the feed plate is held normally depressed by a spring N connected at its lower end with the bed -plate and connected at its upper'end with the feed plate by a screw it provided with an adjusting nut n. This connection of the spring N with the feed plate is slightly in rear ofthe vertical plane of the points m as indicated by the line 72? in Fig. 1 so that the feed plate is given only a slight movement and is easily operated. The'spring N is not directly connected with the bed plate but with a bearing plate 0 which is in turn rigidly connected with the bed plate. vThis plate 0 also carries the posts m and its rear'end is perforated to receive a screw P, the upper end of which is firmly attached to the feed plate and the lower end of which, below the plate 0, carries a buffer p of some soft material, the position of which may be regulated by the adjusting nuts 12 The buifer p; which is adapted to strike against the under side of the plate 0, tends to limit the upward movement of the rear end of-the feed plate and this'movement may also be limited by bufi'ers or cushions P attached to the bed plate below the arms m of the feed plate.

I find in practice that the buffer 7) may be omitted, but it is preferably placed on the machine to provide for any unequal expansion or contraction of the sheet metal of which the feed plate is made. Furthermore, by employing an adjustment bufler the throw of the eed plate may be conveniently regulated.

The bearing plate 0 preferably consists of a. rectangular frame comprising front and aeaase Vshaped grooves o to receive the knifeedged bearing bars of the key levers R.

The general arrangement of the key levers is clearly shown in Fig. 10, each carrying at its front end a finger-piece r and each provided at its rear end with atype r 2 There are preferably five levers R on each side of the central longitudinal axis of the machine. One set of levers preferably carri es type to mark dots while the other set carries type to mark dashes and the rear endscf the levers are so formed as to carry the type in a straight line one behind the other slightly to one side of the central longitudinal axis of the machine. The face or upper ends of the type are all normally held in the same horizontal plane and the distance between the two rows of types is considerably less than the distance between the teeth in the ratchetwheel for the purpose described in my patents above mentioned.

Each key lever is firmly connected with a bearing bar S arranged beneath it and a short distance above the top of which it is held by a spacing block 8 so that each key lever may extend across the bearing bars of other levers without coming in contact with them (Fig. 12). Each bearing bar projects from opposite sides of the lever to which it is connected and at its opposite end it is formed with downwardly-projecting flanges 8 having knife edges (1 at their lower ends adapted to enter the grooves -v in the bearing plate 0. The bar S also has a downwardly extending flange 8 in line with the flanges 8 The knife edges q of the bearing bar S of each key lever on each sideof the machine is received in a groove 41 in the middle bar 0 of the bearing plate 6 and in a corresponding groove in one of the side bars 0", 0 These grooves are in accurate alinement with each other for all the bearing bars and the key .levers rock on these knife edges on the lines 2 in Fig.10. Endwise movement of the bearing bars is prevented by plates T attached to the bearing.

plate 0 at the ends of the bars S, as clearly shown in Fig. 10 and also in Fig. 11. The downward movement of the rear ends of the key leversis limited by a stop-block R provided with a cushion r and the rear ends of the type bars normally rest on this stopblock B".

By reference to Fig. 10 it will be observed that the type on each key lever is arranged the same distance from the line on which the lever rocks as the type on every other lever. It will also be observed that the points W of the key levers which come in contact with the rib m on the feed plate M are equidistant from the lines a on'which the, respective key levers rock so that the feed plate is moved to the same extent when any key lever is actuated.

Each key lever is held in its bearings by a spring B which is attached to the flange .9 of the bearing bar S mid-way between the ends of said bar and this point of adjustment is in line with the knife edges q on which the key lever rocks. The lower end of each spring B is attached to a bracket l3 secured to the bearing plate 0. By this arrangement each key is held in its bearing. Should it jump partially out of these bearings it is immediately returned thereto and in the normal operatic-n of the keys. there is practically no force exerted which interfereswith the easy movement of thekey.

The general operation of the machine is similar to that of all machines of this class. It willbe understood that the inking ribbon is wound from one spool to another, over the type, and beneath the impression roller, and that the strip or ribbon of paper is fed beneath the impression roller above the inking ribbon. When the ribbon is wound ofi? from one spool on to the other the lever D may be thrown over to the opposit side so as to cause the empty spool to wind Each time that a key lever is depressed it not only causes an impression to be made on the paper but it also raises the feed plate, thus causing the pawl L to engage a new tooth in the ratchet-wheel and when the key thus actuated is released the feed plate drops at its rear end, pulling down the pawl and causing the feed shaft to be turned the space of one tooth to thus actuate the ribbon-feed mechanism and also the paper-feed mechanism. V

lily machine is so constructed, as more fully described in my former patents, that keys on opposite sides of the machine may be actuated simultaneously so as to simultaneously print dots and dashes. The mechanism is so constructed, and arranged, as hereinbefore described, that the parts are operated with great delicacy of touch, with uniform leverage and with no objectionable noise. By providing each key lever with a bearing bar having the bearing points located at a considerable distance apart all side-wise movement of the levers is prevented and perfect alinement of the type is insured.

In my application for Patent No. 497,190 filed May 20, 1909, I have claimed the novel features of the key levers and their bearings herein shown and described.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a stenographic machine the combination of a series of finger keys each carrying a type, a platen, a feed shaft connected the ribbon from the other spool.

' ried thereby,

therewith, a feed plate actuated by the finger keys, a ratchet wheel carried by the feed shaft, and a pawl carried by the feed plate provided with a' tooth of relatively soft nonmetallic material engaging the ratchet wheel.

2. In a stenographic. machine, the combination of a feed shaft, a ratchet-wheel cara' pawl provided with a tooth of relatively soft non-metallic material engaging the ratchet-wheel, means for actuating the pawl, a detent Wheel connected to revolve with the ratchet-wheel, and a detent dog of relatively soft non-metallic material engaging the detent wheel.

3. In a stenographic machine, the combi-- nation of a feed shaft, a ratchet-wheelbarried thereby, a pawl provided with a tooth of relatively soft non-metallic material engaging the ratchet-wheel, means for actuating the pawl, a detent wheel carried by the feed shaft, a detent dog of relatively soft non-metallic material engaglngthe detent wheel, and means for adjusting the position of the dog relatively to the detent wheel.

4. In a stenographic machine, the combination of a feed shaft, a ratchet-wheel carried thereby, a pawl comprising a tooth of relatively ,soft non-metallic material, and a shank provided with a socket into which the dog is removably fitted, and means for actuating said pawl.

5. In a stenographic machine, the combination of the base plate, the feed plate, posts on which the feed plate rocks, a spring connected with the feed plate in rear of the plane of the osts for depressin the rear end of the feed plate, and an adjustable buffer for limiting the u ward movement of the rear end of the feed plate.

6. In a'stenographic machine, the combination of the base plate, the bearing plate rigidly attached thereto, the feed plate, posts mounted on the bearing plate on which the feed plate rocks, a spring connected with the bearing plate and with the feed'plate in rear of the posts and which normally deamass presses the rear end of the feed plate, and a butter suspended from the rear portion of the feed plate and adapted to engage the bearing plate.

7. In a stenographic machine the combination of the platen, a set of finger keys'on one side of the machine carrying type at their rear ends arranged in line parallel with the axis of the platen and some of which keys extend diagonally forward from the printing point, a similarset of keys on the opposite side of the machine similarly arranged, and a feed plate carrying a pawl for operating the platen having a part against which the keys strike which, at its middle portion is nearer to the front of the machine than the s de portions thereof, which latter extend rearward and diagonally outward over the striking parts of the keys.

In a stenographic machine the combination of the rotary platen, a set of finger keys on one side of the machine carrying type arranged in line with the axis of the platen, and some of which keys extend diagonally forward and outward from the printing point, a similar set of keys on the opposite side of the machine similarly arranged, a feed plate'carrying a pawl for operating the platen and having a part, against which the keys strike, which at its middle portion is nearer the'front of the machine than the side portions, which latter extend rearward and diagonally outward over the striking portions of the keys, each of which striking portions is-located the same distance from the pivotal point of the key I which strikes it as the point of en agement of each of the other keys with the t eed plate is located from its pivotal point.

- In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

WILLT J. KEHOE.

Witnesses:

ALICE SLATER KEHOE, M. E. BURRELL. 

